The Lagoon and Trifid Nebula Region

About This Photograph

In this wide-field photograph a number of treasures await our discovery. The most obvious are the two bright nebulas, the Lagoon Nebula on the left and the Trifid Nebula on the right. These are both active star-forming regions, with vast clouds of dust and gas illuminated by newborn stars within. In addition we can see numerous dark clouds of gas winding their way through the image. These are seen in silhouette: they block the light from stars beyond.

Two globular clusters also adorn this vista. In the upper left is the distant NGC 6544, appearing quite reddened by the clouds of dust between us and it. To the upper right of the Trifid Nebula lies M21 at about half the distance of NGC 6544. Note how it does not appear at all reddened by dust.